Changes

After "Mother of God" and "Queen of Heaven", one of the most criticized titles given to Mary, "Our life, our sweetness, and our hope", is condemned as evidence that she has been exalted by the Catholic Church as a goddess and savior of sinners in place of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, he who is himself our sole unique source of eternal life, the sweet consolation of doomed sinners who repent and take him as Lord and Savior, and the only hope of Christians for redemption from sin, and [[salvation]] from death and the fires of [[hell]]. Catholic [[Christian apologetics|apologists]] say this title is falsely misrepresented as being [[blasphemy]] and [[Paganism|pagan]] [[idolatry]], and that it is constantly being distorted as to its true intent and meaning as part of ongoing, [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation-based]] campaign of [[polemic]] against the Catholic Church. Reverend Edward Looney, a Catholic [[priest]] and apologist explains:<ref>[http://catholiclane.com/calling-mary-our-life-our-sweetness-and-our-hope Calling Mary Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope, by Fr. Edward Looney, in Featured, Live in Christ - Catholic Lane (catholiclane.com)]</ref>{{cquote|Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His Mother, who was chosen by the Eternal Father to be the mother of His Son, was granted certain privileges in her life which allowed her to become the mother of all the living. The privileges granted to Mary allow her to rightly be called our life, our sweetness and our hope. By means of Mary, the Life, ''par excellence'', was brought into the world, allowing all Christians the opportunity to participate in the Divine Life offered by God.  Mary is an instrument who leads Christians to the one who is the source of all Life—Jesus; Mary also leads Christians to the sweetness of unity with her Son, and finally, Christians are able to find their ultimate hope fulfilled in Jesus Christ; all is possible through the mediation of Mary. As the celestial moon, Mary reflects Christ, bringing all Christians to the source of all life, sweetness, and hope—He who is the Sun, Jesus Christ.}}

After "Mother of God" and "Queen of Heaven", one of the most criticized titles given to Mary, "Our life, our sweetness, and our hope", is condemned as evidence that she has been exalted by the Catholic Church as a goddess and savior of sinners in place of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, he who is himself our sole unique source of eternal life, the sweet consolation of doomed sinners who repent and take him as Lord and Savior, and the only hope of Christians for redemption from sin, and [[salvation]] from death and the fires of [[hell]]. Catholic [[Christian apologetics|apologists]] say this title is falsely misrepresented as being [[blasphemy]] and [[Paganism|pagan]] [[idolatry]], and that it is constantly being distorted as to its true intent and meaning as part of ongoing, [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation-based]] campaign of [[polemic]] against the Catholic Church. Reverend Edward Looney, a Catholic [[priest]] and apologist explains:<ref>[http://catholiclane.com/calling-mary-our-life-our-sweetness-and-our-hope Calling Mary Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope, by Fr. Edward Looney, in Featured, Live in Christ - Catholic Lane (catholiclane.com)]</ref>{{cquote|Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His Mother, who was chosen by the Eternal Father to be the mother of His Son, was granted certain privileges in her life which allowed her to become the mother of all the living. The privileges granted to Mary allow her to rightly be called our life, our sweetness and our hope. By means of Mary, the Life, ''par excellence'', was brought into the world, allowing all Christians the opportunity to participate in the Divine Life offered by God.  Mary is an instrument who leads Christians to the one who is the source of all Life—Jesus; Mary also leads Christians to the sweetness of unity with her Son, and finally, Christians are able to find their ultimate hope fulfilled in Jesus Christ; all is possible through the mediation of Mary. As the celestial moon, Mary reflects Christ, bringing all Christians to the source of all life, sweetness, and hope—He who is the Sun, Jesus Christ.}}

[[Intercession of the saints|Intercession]] is frequently confused with '''[[mediation]]''', as here, and the two terms are often erroneously regarded as [[synonym]]s. In the Bible St. Paul says{{cquote|I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, ''and'' giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and ''for'' all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this ''is'' good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. <br>(1 Timothy 2:1-3 KJV <ref>See also Jeremiah 7:16; 36:25; Romans 8:26-27; 11:2</ref>)}}

'''[[Mediation]]''' is frequently confused with '''[[Intercession of the saints|intercession]]''', and the two terms are often erroneously regarded as [[synonym]]s in standard [[thesaurus]]es<ref>See [https://www.powerthesaurus.org/mediation/synonyms '''mediation synonyms''' - Power Thesaurus (powerthesaurus.org)] and [https://www.powerthesaurus.org/intercession/synonyms '''intercession synonyms''' - Power Thesaurus (powerthesaurus.org)].</ref>. In the Bible St. Paul says{{cquote|I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, ''and'' giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and ''for'' all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this ''is'' good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. <br>(1 Timothy 2:1-3 KJV <ref>See also Jeremiah 7:16; 36:25; Romans 8:26-27; 11:2</ref>)}}

St. Paul says in the same place{{cquote|For ''there is'' one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. <br>(1 Timothy 2:5-6 KJV <ref>See also Isaiah 53:12; Romans 8:34 Galatians 3:19-20; Hebrews 7:25; 8:6; 9:15; 12:24</ref>)}} [[Protestant]] [[Christian]]s, [[Evangelical Christianity|Evangelicals]], [[Fundamentalism|Fundamentalists]] and others object to the [[Catholic]] and [[Orthodox]] doctrine of the '''[[intercession of the saints]]''' because they take intercession to be the same as mediation.

St. Paul says in the same place{{cquote|For ''there is'' one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. <br>(1 Timothy 2:5-6 KJV <ref>See also Isaiah 53:12; Romans 8:34 Galatians 3:19-20; Hebrews 7:25; 8:6; 9:15; 12:24</ref>)}} [[Protestant]] [[Christian]]s, [[Evangelical Christianity|Evangelicals]], [[Fundamentalism|Fundamentalists]] and others object to the [[Catholic]] and [[Orthodox]] doctrine of the '''[[intercession of the saints]]''' because they take intercession to be the same as mediation. Catholics understand the mediatory ministry of Mary to be intercession for us on our behalf to Jesus her son and Lord.

== References ==

== References ==